DEWEY’S EDUCATIONAL

PHILOSOPHY
AS APPLIED IN PHILIPPINE SETTING

GLENN T. RABADON
Dr. John Dewey (1859-1950) is an outstanding American
Philosopher and educator. He was born on October 20,
1859 and graduated from the University of Vermont in
1879 and received his Ph.D. Degree from John Hopkins
University in 1884. He was a professor of Philosophy in
University of Minnesota in 1868 and at the University of
Michigan from 1889 -1894.

He had authored several philosophies of education which

are proven tested and applied by most educational
institutions. His philosophies provided great effects and
changes in the field of education not only in the
Philippines but also in other countries.
Development of
Education in the
Philippines
Education in the Philippines has undergone several stages of
development from the pre-colonial period up to the present.
During the pre-colonial period, children were provided more
vocational training and less academics by parents and tribal
tutors. Education was unstructured and informal. Filipinos of
Malay stock used to carry out ‘a basic form of education in
which children were taught reading, religion and self-defense’
(Canieso-Doronila, 1996).
At the turn of the 20th century, the American colonial
period began, marking the period of further
organization and orientation of Philippine education,
with English as the new language of instruction. The
curricula of instruction of the public schools were based
on the American pattern and, in the main, with
American books (Orata, 1956).
hn Dewey and Philippine Educati
During the American colonization of the
Philippines, John Dewey’s progressive
education movement was a sensation in the
United States and in some other countries. His
progressive ideas, however, did not reflect in
the Philippine industrial education of that time.
Industrial education refers to the “manual
training classes given in the lower grades and
vocational training provided in the higher
grades” (May, 2009).

From 1909 to 1930, industrial education was

prioritized by American education policy makers in
the Philippines. Pupils were taught handicrafts and
farming techniques for earning.
 John Dewey’s influence on Philippine
education started to get sharply visible when it
became independent. Student governments
and students councils became extended widely
as a mode of school discipline.

Up to the present, every public and private

elementary and secondary school in the
Philippines has always had to have its own
student government.

Every private and state colleges and

universities has its own student councils. The
student council has a student regent and the
student regent represents students of the
whole university.
hn Dewey and Philippine educational refo
The K to 12 Basic Education Program is a major
education reform implemented in 2012 in the
Philippines. It serves as a response to the
urgent need to improve the quality of
Philippine basic education. The K-12 program
aims at ‘decongesting and enhancing the basic
education curriculum for learners to master
basic competencies, lengthening the cycle of
basic education to cover kindergarten through
year 12’.

On top of the lengthening of the basic

education cycle, the curricula of the subjects in
this new program differ from those of the old
one.
END